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Environmental Communication Theories
... Environmental communication scholars have shown that a dead-end human/nature binary is overwhelmingly prevalent in globalized, and specifically Western/ized and/or industrial/ized, discourse (Carbaugh, 1996;Corbett, 2006;Milstein, 2009a), and have illuminated the binary's discursive centrality in catastrophic actionsranging from destroying an Earth communicated as separate and endlessly exploitable to polluting an atmosphere communicated as detached and unresponsive to human actions. The human/nature binary is a dead-endboth conceptually and materiallyin that it leads to epistemological failure, culminates in a fractured and fractious sense of self divested from the more-than-human, and results in actual death of planetary systems and human and nonhuman lives that in fact are interrelated parts of, and depend upon, these systems. ...
While contemporary ecocidal cultures are premised on a human/nature binary that treats humans as separate from, superior to, and entitled to mastery over nature, this study explores a range of commonly existing imaginaries that unravel the binary and could enable broad systems change. We introduce a deceptively simple freewrite methodology around the foundational concept “nature” to decipher such unravelings in Western/ized settings. Applying this methodology in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, we exhibit how freewrites can improvisationally reveal and engage productive tensions (dialectics) that trouble the binary, support reflexive ecologically centered becoming, and, in some cases, provide ways to eschew the binary altogether. The present study operates from the stubbornly optimistic perspective that our species’ capacity to collectively, even quickly embrace ecocentric meaning systems that trigger massive change should be widely acknowledged and actively encouraged.
... Researchers believe that the communication carried out has an impact on the environment. Some researchers say that environmental communication is a crisis discipline because it deals directly or indirectly with pressing issues such as the climate crisis, endangered species and toxic pollution (Milstein 2009). Environmental communication is communication of environmental messages to audiences by all means and through all channels. ...
The Zero Waste Indonesia community carried out a social media campaign with the hashtag #TukarBaju out of concern for textile waste. This study aims to analyse the social movement and environmental communication of the Zero Waste community through Instagram. Qualitative descriptive research was conducted with semiotic analysis to interpret the interactions, communications and transactions of sustainable values and knowledge sharing within and outside the community. The data were gathered from the community activities in two years (April 2019–March 2021), with a sample of 24 posted texts and visuals. Content analysis was carried out through coding according to the construct of the concepts covered in environmental communication. The results showed that the @tukarbaju community built eco-friendly awareness and has become its social movement awareness agent. The community digitally conducted women empowerment for environmental care and invited viewers to join the social movement to reduce textile waste and care for environmental sustainability. Knowledge sharing was done persuasively through digital visual and verbal campaigns. The campaigns with actionable hashtags are examples of collaborations. In addition, some of the content categories in the @tukarbaju Instagram account have been educational to build awareness for half a decade.
... Within this context, a premise that is often shared in this field of study is that the social process of communicating about ecosystems implies different assumptions, values, and beliefs about ecosystems and possible uses of ecosystem resources. Thus, Milstein (2009) conceives environmental communication scholarship as the study of how people communicate about the natural world, ascribing to environmental communication scholars the belief "that such communication has far-reaching effects at a time of largely human-caused environmental crises" (Milstein, 2009, p. 344). In turn, Robert Cox's influential work in the field in the North American context focuses on public spheres to look at the articulation of different views and meanings concerning the environment which, in his view, are articulated through environmental communication. ...
This chapter discusses an environmental communication approach, using certain Indigenous place names as examples of how residents of communities around Iliamna Lake, Alaska, not only use place names to convey environmental and spatial information, but also to emphasize the temporal and spiritual relationships between the people and the land. Place names and stories about these places often reveal local histories and affirm cultural ethics. Elders sharing their feelings and stories about these places with younger generations affirm the residents’ connection to the streams, lakes, and other landmarks in the Iliamna Lake area. Participating in daily activities and sharing oral traditions of the landscape are at the core of the environmental communication used by residents of Iliamna Lake communities to live in harmony with nature.
... Within this context, a premise that is often shared in this field of study is that the social process of communicating about ecosystems implies different assumptions, values, and beliefs about ecosystems and possible uses of ecosystem resources. Thus, Milstein (2009) conceives environmental communication scholarship as the study of how people communicate about the natural world, ascribing to environmental communication scholars the belief "that such communication has far-reaching effects at a time of largely human-caused environmental crises" (Milstein, 2009, p. 344). In turn, Robert Cox's influential work in the field in the North American context focuses on public spheres to look at the articulation of different views and meanings concerning the environment which, in his view, are articulated through environmental communication. ...
Anthropological findings and symbolic activities of native populations can be argumentative tools in environmental communication. This chapter presents the ethnography research and assistance of anthropologists in the re-adaptation of the new mountain generation in Vrchár communities in Slovakia, Central Europe. Here, in the second half of twentieth century, several generations were evicted from their original surroundings. The anthropologists compiled an inventory of the current state of local culture in outlying locations. They subsequently used a mixed method to analyze the consequences of interrupting generational transmission and created a model for sustainable transmission of local culture. The new generation adapts Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as lived heritage and periodically presents newly learned knowledge of symbolic events. This symbolic reference to sustainability constitutes important argumentation in environmental communication with multiple stakeholders.
... Within this context, a premise that is often shared in this field of study is that the social process of communicating about ecosystems implies different assumptions, values, and beliefs about ecosystems and possible uses of ecosystem resources. Thus, Milstein (2009) conceives environmental communication scholarship as the study of how people communicate about the natural world, ascribing to environmental communication scholars the belief "that such communication has far-reaching effects at a time of largely human-caused environmental crises" (Milstein, 2009, p. 344). In turn, Robert Cox's influential work in the field in the North American context focuses on public spheres to look at the articulation of different views and meanings concerning the environment which, in his view, are articulated through environmental communication. ...
This is a study of the communication of environmental risk associated with the planned removal of arsenic from the copper mining fields in Riddarhyttan, central Sweden. The study was implemented using in-depth interviews with community residents and representatives from the local, regional, and national governments, as well as walk-and-talk sessions near contaminated grounds to learn about the value of these places to local people and their reflections on risk. The study identified how local residents had to navigate between messages from authorities that touching stones could be life threatening at the same time as they were told that risk was non-existent. This resulted in mixed and affective feelings regarding place, community, and the role the copper industry had played in the past. The case is an illuminating example of how perception and communication is embedded in the social and cultural reality of local communities.
... Within this context, a premise that is often shared in this field of study is that the social process of communicating about ecosystems implies different assumptions, values, and beliefs about ecosystems and possible uses of ecosystem resources. Thus, Milstein (2009) conceives environmental communication scholarship as the study of how people communicate about the natural world, ascribing to environmental communication scholars the belief "that such communication has far-reaching effects at a time of largely human-caused environmental crises" (Milstein, 2009, p. 344). In turn, Robert Cox's influential work in the field in the North American context focuses on public spheres to look at the articulation of different views and meanings concerning the environment which, in his view, are articulated through environmental communication. ...
The Little Springs Lava Flow is the remnant of an active volcano located in northern Arizona. Southern Paiutes and the scientific community dispute about the Paiute response to this eruption. Paiutes stipulate that this volcano is a ceremonial landscape where religious leaders physically interacted during eruption and subsequently built a series of trails for ceremony. This interpretation contrasts with that of the scientific community, who maintain that volcanoes are dangerous to humans, and therefore Paiutes would have left in fear during the eruption. This chapter explains this debate and how Paiutes are challenging the scientists in order to communicate their environmental heritage.
... Within this context, a premise that is often shared in this field of study is that the social process of communicating about ecosystems implies different assumptions, values, and beliefs about ecosystems and possible uses of ecosystem resources. Thus, Milstein (2009) conceives environmental communication scholarship as the study of how people communicate about the natural world, ascribing to environmental communication scholars the belief "that such communication has far-reaching effects at a time of largely human-caused environmental crises" (Milstein, 2009, p. 344). In turn, Robert Cox's influential work in the field in the North American context focuses on public spheres to look at the articulation of different views and meanings concerning the environment which, in his view, are articulated through environmental communication. ...
This chapter elaborates conceptual and theoretical insights to advance a conflict- and power-oriented perspective for a critical conceptualization of environmental communication. To this purpose, the chapter develops and builds upon insights from the anthropology of power and the epistemologies of the South. Within this context, the chapter focuses on the theoretical contributions of Paulo Freire and Eric Wolf to critically approach the relations between communication, power, and conflicts within social-ecological relations. Empirically, the chapter offers an analysis of struggles for water justice and water democracy in Chile which is based on interviews, observations, and analysis of documents conducted during fieldwork in three regions and rural areas of Chile. The chapter argues for a critical theorizing of environmental communication to better understand and explain the meanings of normative views of environmental communication, and to also understand how such normative views cannot be separated from the interests of subjects situated in contingent social-ecological relations and conflicts.
Ne représentant que 0,8 % de la surface de la Terre, mais accueillant 6 % des espèces, les milieux aquatiques d’eau douce et leur biodiversité sont fortement vulnérables aux changements climatiques (IPCC, 2007) et sont considérés comme des milieux sentinelles des effets des changements climatiques sur la biodiversité (Woodward et al., 2010). L’une des principales raisons est que la majorité des organismes aquatiques ont une faible capacité de dispersion. Avec le réchauffement climatique, plusieurs phénomènes toucheront ces écosystèmes : réchauffement de la température de l’eau, augmentation de l’évaporation durant les périodes sèches, augmentation de l’intensité et de la fréquence des crues, pour ne nommer que ceux-là. La littérature démontre également que les petits cours d’eau et leur biodiversité seront davantage concernés par les changements climatiques (Theodoropoulos et Karaouzas, 2021). Comprendre les conséquences des changements climatiques sur les écosystèmes aquatiques en suivant la santé globale des petits cours d’eau est donc intéressant à bien des égards. Mieux comprendre les effets de ces perturbations sur ces écosystèmes permettra ainsi de mieux planifier des interventions pour s’y adapter.
À l’heure actuelle, il manque indéniablement de données permettant de prédire déquatement les effets des changements climatiques sur les écosystèmes aquatiques et leur biodiversité.
En réponse à cette situation, le Groupe d’éducation et d’écosurveillance de l’eau (G3E), un organisme à but non lucratif favorisant la participation active des citoyens vis-à-vis la protection des écosystèmes aquatiques et leur mise en valeur, a mis en place, en 2017, le projet Des rivières surveillées, s’adapter pour l’avenir. Il s’agit d’un réseau permanent de suivi des cours d’eau qui vise à documenter les conséquences des changements climatiques sur les écosystèmes riverains en mettant la science citoyenne au cœur de ces suivis. Lors de la première phase (2017-2020), ce sont ainsi 60 cours d’eau à l’échelle du Québec qui ont été suivis par des jeunes et organismes engagés. Une deuxième phase
est en cours (2021-2024). Pour réaliser ce suivi, le projet utilise entre autres les protocoles et outils du programme SurVol Benthos.
Zusammenfassung
Das kommunikations- und medienwissenschaftliche Forschungsfeld zu Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation und das interdisziplinäre Forschungsfeld, das sich mit Medien(-kommunikation) und dem „guten Leben“ auseinandersetzt, sind facettenreiche, wenn auch kleine Forschungsbereiche, die in diesem Kapitel aufgearbeitet werden. Skizziert werden die nachhaltigkeitsrelevante Journalismus- und Public-Relations-Forschung sowie das relevante Feld der Wissenschaftskommunikation und der Medieninhalts- und Rezeptionsforschung. Die Aufarbeitung des interdisziplinären Forschungsbereichs, der sich explizit mit dem „guten Leben“ und Medien beschäftigt, zeigt, dass hier das individuelle Wohlbefinden und die Relevanz der Mediennutzung für dieses im Fokus stehen. Argumentiert wird aber, dass, um den Zusammenhang von Medien und dem „guten Lebens“ zu verstehen, auch die sozial-ökologischen Probleme in den Blick genommen werden müssen, die aktuelle Digitalisierung verursacht. Daher werden hier auch die sozial-ökologischen Folgen der Produktion, Aneignung und Entsorgung digitaler Medientechnologien skizziert, die durch den Konsum digitaler Medientechnologien verursacht werden. Der Konsum digitaler Medientechnologien und -inhalte hindert letztendlich viele Menschen und weitere Lebewesen an einem „guten Leben“ und zerstört die Umwelt. Was verschiedene Akteur*innen mit Medien(-technologien) machen, um diese sozial-ökologischen Folgen zu vermeiden und welche alternativen, nachhaltigeren Medienpraktiken sie entwickeln, wird hier als Forschungsdesiderat benannt.
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